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Retirement was once such a tidy thing. You worked, you saved, you retired. Not anymore. As an affluent investor in a new study by Hearts & Wallets puts it: "I don't think retirement is the buzzword it once was. 'Okay, yeah right, retirement. Okay, yeah right, I'll win the lottery.' It just doesn't have the meaning behind it that it used to have."
The same study of middle-aged accumulators by the retirement and savings research group concludes that "retirement" doesn't resonate because it seems "unknowable," "unachievable" and "possibly not smart." And, in a big heads-up for the financial services community, these folks also say that traditional industry advice doesn't reflect their vision for life as a senior. "The financial services industry needs to start executing on the reality that many investors don't plan to retire. What they are saving for is 'freedom money' and many plan to work as long as health permits," notes Laura Varas, Hearts & Wallets principal. "Yet industry advice is still all about: 'When you retire. When you retire.' It's a little bit like if I wasn't planning to move to Mars, yet all the ads are about when you move to Mars. There's a disconnect."
The economic recession and continuing market turbulence have caused Americans to rethink retirement as never before. Not only when to retire — but how. And, experts say, people are clamoring for peace of mind. A key finding from the 2011 SunAmerica Retirement Re-Set Study reveals that financial peace of mind is now six times more important than accumulating wealth. "Clients are more scared of running out of money than dying," observes Mike Reese, a certified financial planner who heads Centennial Wealth Advisory in Traverse City, Mich.
Just three years ago, 90 percent of Reese's new clients regarded their retirement accounts as "excess funds" they would leave to their kids because pensions and Social Security covered all of their needs. "The majority of my time was spent trying to figure out how you [stop] excess accounts from turning into tax monsters," said Reese, who has more than $100 million in assets under management. Today, he says, with pensions disappearing and recession-worn portfolios, the equation has flipped. "Ninety percent of my new clients' primary concern is: How do we take our accounts and use them to generate secure, sustainable lifetime income regardless of what the markets do?" A new approach to post-recession retirement, according to industry pundits, requires fresh thinking from financial services firms — on everything from fees, to products, to straight talk not only about financial and investment planning but what your client needs to do to sleep at night.
"This is a wake-up call," says gerontologist Ken Dychtwald, founder of Age Wave, who collaborated with SunAmerica on its initial landmark retirement study in 2001 and again this year. "One of the people in our focus groups said: 'Before this recession my retirement dream was to play all the great golf courses in Europe.' Today he's saying all the public courses in New Jersey would be fine. He's from New Jersey. It's not surprising to see that people are still worried. They've lost a lot of their sense of security. However, hopefulness has remained powerful in the last decade. This is a hopeful, resilient population in the process of making a thoughtful course correction. I think people want to go to sleep and know they are okay and their family is all right. They've got a new vision of what's important in life."
A Course Correction
That new vision involves what Dychtwald calls a "radical" change in how Americans 55 and older want their savings (and their advisors) to work for them. "Don't tell me 'rosy' or 'ideal,' tell me 'what if?' What if I can't work any longer? This is one of the big changes in the last decade. Then, it was all about let's talk about your money and you can worry about your life. Now, it's let's talk about your life and how your money can finance it," he said. "There's been a shifting of the forest and the trees."
Probably the biggest shout-out from new retirement surveys is that Retirement 2.0 no longer means the end of work. The SunAmerica Retirement Re-set Study, for example, says almost two-thirds of those interviewed would include some work in retirement to stay active and involved. Fifty-four percent view retirement as a new chapter in life, rather than a winding down — a significant increase over the 38 percent that held a similar view a decade ago. And pre-retirees say they now intend to delay retirement by five years, from 64 to 69, due to increasing longevity as well as the recession and financial need.
Brent Brodeski, CEO of Savant Capital in Rockford, Ill., has pushed the retirement reset button when he talks to clients.
"What we've been doing a lot of when we talk to clients is say 'Hey, maybe it's not an on-off or an all-or-nothing, maybe the goal shouldn't be retirement at all but financial incentives so that you can position yourself to be in a place where you can run your life on your own terms, on your own schedule,'" said Brodeski, whose firm has over $2 billion in assets under management. "It's all about being open to a less rigid definition of retirement. If you can identify something that's productive and stimulating and maybe you can make some money doing it, why would you ever retire?"
A more flexible retirement model can also create a lot of value, he added. Instead of working 70-hour weeks and pulling down six figures, for example, a person could work part-time and make $20,000 a year. "That amount for an extra five years means you don't need as much cash flow," Brodeski said. "It makes a huge difference for your potential financial success."
One of the biggest problems facing those approaching or in retirement these days: inertia. An investigation of retirement planning attitudes and behavior from the Financial Security Project at Boston College showed that many people, especially those with no financial advisor, feel completely overwhelmed.
"This was the big takeaway. A lot of people feel angry, helpless and worried. That feeds into this notion that there's nothing I can do. They're angry at government, at their employer, at the financial services industry," said Steve Sass, associate director of the college's Center for Retirement Research. "It's debilitating and the reaction to that is often paralysis."
One of the game-changers going forward will be to make retirement more attainable, Sass said, by reducing expenses, working longer and saving more. Clients need to make adjustments — and so do financial advisors. Here is some of the new thinking that is rising from the shifting landscape:
Plan for the unexpected. As an advisor, remove "in an ideal world" from your vocabulary and your materials when you query clients about their plans for retirement. "You want to emphasize the curve balls that pop up over and over again," notes Sass. Potential challenges include losing a job, getting sick, or taking care of a parent or child. Consider: In a twist on child care, 70 percent of people surveyed in the SunAmerica study expect to provide financial assistance to adult children.
"This is a much more serious problem than academics or planners might think," Sass added. "You have to have a certain framework but you need to have add-ons for the curve balls. You've got to build robustness into a plan knowing that life happens." The outcome: a strategy that minimizes feelings of hopelessness around "starting over" or it being "too late" to correct one's path. It also conveys an understanding of your client's needs, increasing the relevance of the advisor-client engagement.
Empower your clients. Accept that some people do procrastinate, are paralyzed and that "baby steps" are the only solution to paralysis. Sass recommends empowering your clients with little steps they can take to secure their financial future. "People need to know there are things they can do," he said. For example, if a key goal is travel, explain how a client might take one trip a year on a fixed income. "This is all about keeping it real — and doable."
Demystify Social Security. Just about everyone plans to tap Social Security but research has turned up very low levels of Social Security literacy coupled with a pervasive skepticism about its future. How much more does a person get by claiming the benefit at age 70 rather than 62? At least 76 percent more, according to the Financial Security Project. The Social Security Administration itself reports that 74 percent of current retirees are receiving a reduced benefit. "We've definitely seen in our day to day practice a lot of interest in this subject," said Luke Vandermillen, vice president of retirement and investor services at Principal Financial Group. "But this stuff is complex. It's difficult for advisors to do on their own." Earlier this year, Principal Funds rolled out a three-step program to help the advisor explain the benefit, untangle the options and create a plan to maximize the Social Security payment.
Rethink 'buy and hold.' A self-described contrarian, Don Schreiber Jr. says the recession should have convinced people about what he has been saying for years: Investment models based on passive asset allocation have not worked. As he puts it: "This idea that investors should focus on returns only in good markets — that markets will bail you out and allow you to recover your capital over time and then get a return high enough to fund your retirement goals — is not supported by history."
Yet, he says, the investment management community has continued to support the methodology, leaving people poorer than wealthier because they didn't focus on what Schreiber deems important: risk to capital. Schreiber, president and CEO of WBI Investments and co-portfolio manager of WBI Funds, oversees $900 million in assets from offices in Little Silver, N.J. The framework he follows involves buying low and selling when the security appreciates to its fully valued price, determined by Schreiber's dynamic trailing stop-loss process. "This is the opportunity to buy low and sell high by design," he says. Also built into his construct: a monthly income stream from bond interest and dividends.
Explore new pricing mechanisms. One of the most striking data points to come out of the Hearts & Wallets research is that many accumulators reject the traditional model of asset-based fees. Less than 10 percent gave it an "A" or "B," 70 percent gave it a "C," and 20 percent gave it a "D" or "F." "The current model isn't working for a lot of people," notes Hearts & Wallace principal Chris Brown. "They not only want to know what they are paying for, but what the incentives are and they want some choice." One pricing concept that involved a choice of services and fees was especially popular with accumulators. Eighty percent gave it an "A" or "B."
Give annuities their due. The much-maligned annuity is getting new life in an era where income guarantees are so sought after. "People have switched to a safe area and for good reason. The market looked flat for the last 10 years and it doesn't look good for the next 10," says Mike Davis, founder of Davis Financial Services in Jacksonsville, Fla. With $15 million in assets under management, Davis has a small practice that caters to people over 60.
"Some people have high expectations, and I do too, that we're going to get out of this at some point. That's okay when you're in your thirties, but when you're in your sixties, it's not so peachy." An annuity is part of every plan Davis works up.
Dig deeper than ever with clients. One of the things that struck Dychtwald most about the 900 pages of data in the SunAmerica study was that people's lives have become more complicated over the last decade. Some have lost jobs, divorced, gone bankrupt and turned to their families for support. If you're supporting a grandchild, the advisor should know that. If you want to work until age 90, the advisor should know that too. "You need to know more than just the numbers," he said.
Despite the challenges that lie ahead, Dychtwald is wholly optimistic. "We're living longer and longer lives. It's quite wonderful we have that challenge," he adds. "This is more stimulating, more fertile, more productive and more valuable than any version of retirement we've ever seen. We are in metamorphosis."


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ABERAERON, seven miles northeast of New Quay, comes as something of a surprise. This little nugget of Georgian architecture was built by the Reverend Alban Gwynne, who spent his wife's inheritance dredging the Aeron Estuary and constructing a planned town around it as a new port for Mid-Wales. The colourful terraces of quoin-edged buildings around Alban Square and along Quay Parade are undoubtedly pretty, though the moneyed weekenders from Cardiff (and even London) are more interested in the excellent array of places to stay as well as the good restaurants.
Aberaeron's beach is unappealing, so head out along the coast path or just amble around the streets and waterfront and graze in its cafés and pubs.
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Madam Speaker, allow me to rise in this House to pay tribute to people from Rouyn-Noranda who help make the International Cinema Festival in Abitibi-Témiscamingue a success year after year.
The festival generates economic spinoffs estimated at $1.5 million annually and gives more than 20,000 moviegoers an opportunity to view a hundred or so films. During five intensive days, we get to venture into the worlds of the cinema of Quebec, Canada, Europe, Africaand South America. Our festival knows no boundaries.
Under the direction of the founding trio of Jacques Matte, Louis Dallaire and Guy Parent, some 60 volunteers and associates welcome each year a hundred or so producers, directors, actors, journalists and distributors.
My warmest congratulations to the organizers of the festival, which is celebrating its 22nd anniversary.


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Author Notes: One of the many things I like most about this website is the impetus it has given me to revisit the recipes I've cooked my way through over the years. Some of recipes are ones I've modified from magazines and cookbooks; some are ones I've created from different areas of inspiration; and some are from my mom. Many years ago as I was getting ready to move into my first apartment in Boston, I had my mom write down all my favorite things that she cooked onto notecards that we put into a recipe box. Seafood Eggs was something she used to cook for breakfast brunches around the holidays or for the two of us when my dad traveled, so we could have something special – just the two of us. And oh so decadent! Living in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, shrimp and crabmeat were not on anyones regular diet in those days. But my mom found a fish store a 45 minute drive away that flew in fresh seafood every day. When I made this last night (since my husband is out of town and I was having a home alone dinner) what a rush of memories! And they tasted just like I remembered them tasting as we sat in our kitchen all those 40 years ago. The only changes I made was to roast a poblano pepper to make a home for the eggs since I love the combination of eggs and roasted peppers and I added the cheese. Hope you enjoy them as much as I have. —TheWimpyVegetarian
Serves: 1-2
whole poblano peppers (optional)
medium shrimp, peeled, deveined
cup fresh crabmeat, all shells removed, well packed
tablespoons unsalted butter plus more for sauteeing the shrimp and cooking the eggs
tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 1/2
tablespoons sherry
cup half and half (you could substitue whole milk)
tablespoon chives, minced
large eggs
teaspoon kosher salt
teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
shakes of hot pepper sauce
cup Gruyere cheese, finely grated
tablespoon parmesan cheese, finely grated
- If you plan to plate the eggs inside the shell of a poblano pepper, roast the pepper(s) under the broiler until the skin is black over 65% of the pepper. The more you roast it, the milder it will be on the spicy richter scale. Place in a paper or plastic bag for a couple minutes and peel. Cut a slit along the top of it from the stem to the pointed tip and remove the seeds. Set aside.
- Lightly salt and pepper the shrimp. Heat a little butter in a saute pan and when hot, saute the shrimp until just cooked through (about 2 minutes per side). Chop coarsely. Put in a bowl with the crabmeat and set aside.
- Whisk the eggs, salt, pepper, chives and hot sauce together in a medium bowl and set aside.
- Make a roux by melting 3 Tablespoons of butter over medium heat. Remove from the heat and add the flour, whisking to mix the flour and butter together until smooth. Continue whisking it as you put it back on the heat and cook over medium-low heat for several minutes. Off the heat, whisk in the half and half or milk until completely mixed in. Return to the heat and whisk constantly until it starts to thicken up and simmer. Whisk in the sherry and then add the seafood with a spatula, continuing to work until the seafood is completely covered wtih the roux. Turn off the heat and leave the seafood mixture in the pan to keep warm while you start scrambling the eggs.
- In a skillet, melt enough butter to cook the eggs (about 1 Tablespoon). When hot, add the eggs and cook until 70% cooked. Add the cheese and seafood mixture. With a spatula fold the eggs, seafood and cheese together gently until eggs are done.
- Serve hot by scooping into the roasted poblano shell or just on the plate. Enjoy the luxory of them with a glass of champagne. Life is good.


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Where Are They Now? Melvin Bandell, A.A. '56
Category: Alumni
THEN: Up until the day he was drafted in 1951, Melvin Bandell, A.A. '56, worked at his local A&P food store. After being stationed in Alaska for a year and a half during the Korean War, the U.S. Army veteran and Maryland native returned home and enrolled through the G.I. Bill in the accounting program at the Baltimore College of Commerce.
"When I came back, I didn't have any skills and I didn't know what to do," he says. "I took a test … as a G.I. to figure out what I wanted to do, and they suggested I try accounting.
"I had been away from the books for so long. But … [the college] helped me to plug through."
Established in 1909 as part of the YMCA school system, the Baltimore College of Commerce was located on the corner of Franklin and Cathedral streets in the former YMCA building, which now serves as the Mount Vernon Hotel. In the late '60s, the small college and its programs—bachelor's degrees in accounting, business management and marketing; six associate degrees; and a certificate in accounting—moved to a new campus in Mount Washington before merging with the University of Baltimore in 1973.
"[The college] had what I thought would help [me] do what I needed to do with my future," he says. "It was a good location, and … 99 percent of the classes were [filled with] G.I.s. You had young ones and old ones."
After graduating, Bandell literally married the girl next door and joined the accounting department at Martin Marietta (now Lockheed Martin). Twenty years and several companies later, Bandell turned a booming "side" tax business into his full-time job.
NOW: After four decades as an accountant, Bandell retired to a schedule of occasional tax work, extensive travel (his family has gone on an African safari and on a cruise to Alaska) and full-time grandparenthood. His eldest granddaughter recently married, and the younger two are working toward bachelor's and master's degrees.
"I have known clients [who] have never wanted grandchildren, and I can't imagine my life without them," says Bandell, who volunteered for 10 years at his granddaughters' elementary schools. "They are the reason that I get up in the morning."
While Bandell misses the face-to-face interactions of his longtime accounting career, he appreciates the quiet life he now leads in Nottingham, Md., with his wife of 55 years, Evelyn.
"We [have] lived a simple life, but I've been very happy," he says.
Nicole Reagan is a graduate student in the Publications Design program.


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Look how fun: A toddler book of colors from Pantone! If you know any designers who are about to become parents, this would make the cutest gift. But really, it's pretty for anyone. At our house, we think it's so pretty, we leave it out on our coffee table!
P.S. — I have the UK version — Colours instead of Colors. Do you like how they handled the two different covers?


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Technology can be a force for evil, or for awesome. Those who shun technologies that could save the planet are just as guilty as those who ignore the environment.
There's a safe balance, where the awesome can help nature as much as it helps us have a good time and live easier lives. EcoGeek devotes its pages to exploring the symbiosis between nature and technology. If you're interested in that, then stop by, and stop by often.
EcoGeek was conceived and founded (and is run and edited) by Hank Green. Hank spends most of his time thinking about how our brains can save our planet and has, in the last few years, become something of an expert on the subject. He appears regularly on Planet Green's nightly news show "G Word," and has written on the subject for a variety of print and online magazines. His work has appeared in publications ranging from Mental Floss Magazine to The New York Times and he's been interviewed on NPR's All Things Considered and Air America's The Young Turks. You can find out more at hankgreen.com.
Hank started EcoGeek in graduate school as a class assignment for his professor, Jon Weber, formerly of the Industry Standard, currently of NewWest.net.
The brilliant Pete Holm designed our logo.
EcoGeek's writers, past and present, include: Hank Green, Philip Proefrock, Dave Burdick, John Barrie, Gavin D.J. Harper, Matt James, A Siegel, Jozef Winter, Heather McKee, Andrew Williams, Dave Loos, Joshua Liberles, Peg Fong, Jaymi Heimbuch, Yoni Levinson, Megan Treacy, Benjamin Jones, and Sarah Rich.
We're hugely in debt to open source initiatives, from Apache on the bottom to Joomla on the top. We couldn't have done this without Open Source.
We rely on users to send us tips ( [email protected]) and we're also looking to sell advertising ( [email protected]). And, if you want to chat about the site… or you've found some technical problem, please email Hank at [email protected]


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Collection includes the most comprehensive set of WWII Navy Muster Rolls ever released online and exclusive Pearl Harbor veteran records
PROVO, UTAH – (December 2, 2011) – In remembrance of the 70th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor, which marked the United States' entrance into World War II, Ancestry.com (Nasdaq: ACOM), the world's largest online family history resource, today announced it is offering six days (December 2-7) of free access to its entire World War II Collection. One in five Americans is a direct descendant of a WWII veteran, with four out of five having a WWII veteran in their families, according to research done by Ancestry.com[1]. The Pearl Harbor attack spurred millions of Americans into military action. By the end of the war, nearly 16 million Americans had served in the U.S. Armed Forces - more than a quarter in the U.S. Navy.
Highlighting the World War II Collection is the release of the World War II Navy Muster Rolls (1939-1949), which includes more than 33 million records detailing nearly all enlisted personnel who served aboard a U.S. Navy ship between January 1939 and January 1949, including more than 2,400 Americans who were killed in the attack on Pearl Harbor. Muster Rolls provided quarterly reports of personnel assigned to a ship, duty station or other activity. These reports noted sailors who experienced significant changes in status, such as promotions, transfers, leave or time in the infirmary. In addition to all enlisted men, the Navy Muster Rolls also include selected officers, female officers of the Army and Navy Nurse Corps, wives and daughters of Navy personnel and civilians. Nearly anyone searching for a family member who was enlisted in the Navy during this time period should be able to find their records in this collection. These new U.S. Navy Muster Rolls and the entire World War II collections can be found at ancestry.com/pearlharbor
Carol Horner-Iacona of San Marcos, Texas has utilized the U.S. Navy Muster Rolls to create a book of memory honoring her father who served as a Seaman First Class V-6 aboard the U.S.S. Helena, which was torpedoed on the morning of December 7th in Pearl Harbor. Charles Horner, now 91, was unable to speak of his experience in the war until recently. The records Carol has uncovered have helped fill in the gaps to a family story she hopes is never forgotten, including more than a dozen records of his service during WWII, including the Muster Rolls detailing his post on that fateful day at Pearl Harbor.
"The attack on Pearl Harbor pulled the United States into the deadliest conflict in world history," said Donald L. Miller, critically acclaimed author of The Story of World War II and host and associate-producer of the new HBO documentary, He Has Seen War. "Only 11 percent of World War II veterans are still alive today, and as many of these veterans continue to pass on, our connection to these historic events is being lost. By making these records available, Ancestry.com is helping to keep the stories of these brave men and women alive."
Ancestry.com is further expanding the World War II collection by making these new records available as part of the free access promotion:
- National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific (Punchbowl Cemetery) Database- This collection contains more than 120,000 records from 1949 to 1976, including headstone images and photos of names on war memorials. Seven hundred veterans who died in the attack on Pearl Harbor are buried at the Cemetery. This is the second largest final resting place for crewmen who lost their lives on December 7, 1941, the primary resting place being the USS Arizona Memorial.Together these two locations comprise the majority of the 2,402 Americans who died in the attack on Pearl Harbor. Also buried at Punchbowl Cemetery are veterans of the battles of Iwo Jima and Okinawa. This unique collection is available only on Ancestry.com and offers families the opportunity to pay their respects and discover information about their ancestor's final resting place.
- U.S. WWII Young Men's Draft Cards -This collection includes draft cards from theseven draft registrations held between November 1940 and December 1942. Because of privacy laws, information on most of these registrations was not previously available to the public. The first installment of these cards includes almost two million filled out by men living in North Carolina who were born between 1897 and 1929.
"World War II impacted millions of American families and we felt this was an appropriate time to make our collection available at no cost to provide the public an opportunity to explore through records, how the War may have touched their families," said Josh Hanna, Executive Vice President, Ancestry.com. "Ancestry.com hosts the largest online collection of historical military records and these new additions to our World War II catalog add further depth to this important collection."


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How About Making iPad Users Smile?
It seems no matter what I blog about these days, at least one iPad user responds with something to the effect of, "That's great, but where's my iPad app?" Yesterday, after blogging about the many ways we make Septuagint scholars smile, one user sent me this via Twitter: "how about making iPad using pastors smile??"
While we've long had requests for an Accordance app for the iPhone, iPhone users are nowhere near as vocal in their requests as iPad users. I think that's because while the iPad is an iOS device, people use it more like a full-blown computer than a mere handheld. iPhone users would like to be able to read their Accordance modules on their iPhone from time to time, but iPad users want to be able to do in depth study using their iPads. Each day they have to wait is another day they feel handicapped. Which means it's another day they ask us, "When?"
Here's what I told the "iPad using pastor" via Twitter yesterday:
Let's just say I'm busy writing a certain submission to a certain computer maker regarding a certain piece of software. :-)
To which he replied:
well don't let me distract you then.
What does all that mean? It means we're in the final stages of testing and tweaking our initial release. We're also finalizing our submission to Apple for approval of the app. While I can't give a precise date when it will be available, I can tell you that the release of Accordance for iOS should be just around the corner. In tomorrow's post, I'll tell you a little of what you can expect from it.
Archived Comments
I just think we iPhone users are more the patient type. ;-)
@Jon: Speak for yourself... I want it, I want it, I want it, I want it! ;-)
The hope of one day having Accordance on my iPad was one of the core reasons I originally bought one. It is the premier study device, and having Accordance on it is what is was made for!! Can't wait!!! Can't wait!!!
Joe W
The app will open every module I own, allow in-app purchases, sync with all my computers over the cloud, including the old G3 in my basement that's not even on the internet, sync user notes with all my Word docs, zotero bib references and WoW index files, open multiple windows to view alongside one another (even though iOS handles only one window view at a time), push bible content to my TV via AppleTV and AirFlow, allow creation of user bibles of all unicode languages within the app, and perform modern and ancient word search via voice command ("Search for 'ἐδάκρυσεν' in GNT-T"), won't it?
Robb B
Joe W, you're just scratching the surface of what it will do.
David Lang
Joe, you forget to mention that it will automatically check the air pressure in your tires! As for the Greek searching via voice command, there's still internal debate about whether to use Erasmian or modern pronunciation!
But seriously, I'll be addressing what you can and can't expect in this first release in future posts. I'm afraid a few people's utopian expectations may get dashed, but I think most of you will be very pleased. :-)
Todd A. Peperkorn
Patrick Lafferty
so, before year's end, or shall the unnamed computer company require more time?
It's possible for an app to get Apple approval within a week of submission, though I don't know what the holiday season would do to that.
In the spirit of Advent, we aren't decorating the house for Christmas until the iOS app gets released. And, the choir party is on Boxing Day, 12/26.
No pressure, of course.
Denes House
My family is teasing me that I'm more eager for the Advent of the Accordance iPhone/iPad app than the Advent of Jesus. But that's not true.
It's not.
But Jesus has already come!
David Lang writes, "...internal debate about whether to use Erasmian or modern pronunciation!"
Now that Mac users have lots of storage space (hard drive or RAM), surely the time is coming when a competent human reader will be recorded for the Hebrew and Greek Scriptures. The era of using the Mac OS system voice (I use Fred) has passed.
Of course, both Hebrew and Greek present challenges with pronunciation systems. I suspect that you'll have to provide a couple of options for each, using your seminary profs as consultants.
For Greek, I guess that the Mounce version of Erasmian pronunciation would be an inescapable choice.
I suspect that some of us might consider a progress update to be a sign of peace on earth and good will towards men.
Of course, others of us might consider the LACK of a progress update to be a sign of something rather different.


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Compulsory Wearing of Face Coverings from July 24th
From the 24th July it will become compulsory in England to wear face coverings when entering a Robins & Day site.
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|Mon to Fri 9AM - 6PM
|Sat 9AM - 5:30PM
|Sun 10AM - 4PM
|Mon to Fri 8AM - 6PM
|Sat 8:30AM - 12:30PM
|Sun Closed
We are Newport's premier new and used Citroen car dealer. Our Citroen used car stock benefits from extensive checks and our dealer practices are designed to ensure we exceed your expectations. We welcome part exchange of used vehicles and finance is available on all our new or used Citroens.
At Robins & Day Citroen Newport your car is important to us, that is why we have established a range of Citroen approved After Sales services. Should you need any assistance with your car, our qualified Citroen After Sales staff will be happy to help. Our workshops are able to deal with any repair or service work necessary.
For DS 3, DS 4 & DS 5 vehicles, we can carry out services & repairs and will provide a main dealer service history.
We look forward to exceeding your expectations soon.
Robins & Day Citroen Newport cater for all your servicing and repair needs. Among our key services are:-
From the 24th July it will become compulsory in England to wear face coverings when entering a Robins & Day site.
Following latest government announcements, we have re-opened our nationwide showrooms for sales enquiries, vehicle viewings and test drives.
^Quotes are valid for a maximum of 14 days from 01/10/2020 and may be withdrawn without notice. Finance subject to status and age limitations. We may introduce you to a carefully selected group of finance providers. PSA Retail UK Limited, trading as Robins & Day by PSA Retail, is acting as a credit broker and not a lender and will introduce you to a limited number of lenders. Ts and Cs apply.


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(CNN) - The Federal Aviation Administration confirms that certain recalled 15-inch Macbook Pro laptops are banned from all flights in the United States.
Apple issued a limited recall for the laptops in June because they contained batteries that could overheat.
The next month, on July 10, the FAA retweeted pictures of a damaged Macbook Pro along with a reminder that the batteries, which have also been recalled, are not allowed on airplanes.
More recently, the FAA emailed statements to several media outlets, drawing attention to the ban.
The recall is for 15-inch Macbook Pros sold between Sept. 2015 and Feb. 2017 that contain certain types of lithium batteries.
Those batteries were themselves recalled because of a risk of overheating, electric shock, thermal burns and even fire.
Copyright 2019 CNN. All rights reserved.


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The most beautiful, hand-made cufflinks
and... the only ones I wear
John Barrowman, Entertainer.
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There are several maturity options available to allow you access to your RRSP assets, each with specific advantages and disadvantages. You can convert all or a portion of your RRSP assets to any of the following options. This conversion can occur at any time, but you must convert all RRSP assets by December 31st of the year in which you turn age 71.
The option(s) you should choose depends upon a number of criteria, but your decision should be based on whether or not you want income now or later, or if you want to maximize your estate for your heirs. Some of the criteria to consider include:
The tax implications of your decision will vary depending upon the option that you choose. A RRIF or annuity will continue to provide a degree of tax deferral since income will be received over a number of years. Lump-sum payments of cash will attract the most adverse tax consequences and are usually inappropriate except when the RRSP is relatively small.
At maturity, most individuals choose either a RRIF or an annuity. The conversion from an RRSP to a RRIF or annuity occurs on a tax-deferred basis. Also, if converting to a RRIF the investments held in your RRSP can be transferred directly into the RRIF account. Investments in your RRSP do not have to mature or be liquidated prior to transfer to the RRIF.
A RRIF is basically an extension of an RRSP except that it is intended to provide an ongoing flow of income. Choosing this option will allow you all the same flexibility provided by the RRSP, including allowable investment types and access to funds. Unlike an RRSP, a RRIF does require the receipt of at least a minimum annual payment. The RRIF option provides the maximum amount of flexibility of the available maturity options, allowing you control over the management of your assets, flexibility of annual income and potential tax minimization.
An annuity is essentially a contract between an individual and an insurance company to provide a guaranteed income stream for the individual's life or for a fixed term. In purchasing an annuity you must decide whether all or a portion of your RRSP will be used to purchase an annuity as well as determine the type of annuity that should be purchased based on your retirement and estate objectives. This decision can be complicated since there are many options to choose from. The amount of annuity income received will depend on the annuity option chosen and factors such as life expectancy, current age, sex, health, amount invested and interest rates at the time of purchase. By purchasing an annuity, you are locking in current interest rates on the investment for the annuity's duration.
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Penalty Shootout
Game Information
VENUE: Central Park
Scottish Cup News
Celtic supporter jailed for 10 months after punching three police horses
A Celtic fan has been jailed for 10 months after punching three police horses before a Scottish Cup match.
Celtic clinch 'Triple Treble' with Scottish Cup win
Celtic wrapped up a domestic Treble for an unprecedented third straight season after beating Hearts 2-1 in the Scottish Cup final on Saturday.
Timothy Weah scores on Celtic debut to seal Scottish Cup progress
United States international Timothy Weah scored on his debut for Celtic as the Scottish champions beat Airdrieonians 3-0.
Celtic beat Motherwell in Scottish Cup final to claim historic double treble
Celtic secured an unprecedented successive domestic treble in commanding style with a 2-0 Scottish Cup final win over Motherwell at Hampden Park.
Celtic, Rangers fans create 'Hampden Roar' almost as loud as jet engine
The "Hampden Roar" is as loud being right next to a roaring lion and almost as deafening as a jet engine taking off, according to a study.
Celtic hit four past 10-man Rangers to reach Scottish Cup final
Celtic hammered hapless 10-man Rangers 4-0 at Hampden Park to book a William Hill Scottish Cup final date with Motherwell next month.


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Product Overview
- Replacement M Series Body pins
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*1009: Mystery of the Urinal Deuce*
Moderator: Big-Will
Kyle the Skeptic wrote:triplemultiplex wrote:Okay time to address the stuff from Cartman's presentation:
Speaking of which, I was hoping they'd use Cartman's character to caricature the behavior of your typical CTist. It's the only other missed opportunity I saw. For example he could have said things like:
"How can anyone look at these facts and not realize the truth? I can only assume cognitive dissonance."
"The so-called experts who disagree with me should be fired from their jobs!"
"If you don't think the government was 100% complicit in 9/11, then you must be down on your knees kissing Bush's ass."
But I still laughed at the part where he blamed Kyle, and then put up the same picture of him as in his "Ginger Kids" presentation.
Cartman's character was modeled after Alex Jones.
Too bad Matt & Trey didn't bring up Pakistani ISI, Mahmoud Ahmad, or Able Danger. You know, the real issues, not the nonsense being argued over here.
markawil wrote:DHS2020 wrote:
Perhaps these military and political officers from around the world are also retards.
hey, did you take the time to actually read what their quotes are about? Do you honestly believe any of those senators or congressmen believe the loose change garbage? They're talking about Able Danger and the liberal govt. lawyer scum who stopped the program in fear that they might get a backlash for storming and arresting muslims in this country. They're not talking about uber secret massad-matrix agents flying planes and tomahawks into buildings, they all know (just like any average person knows) who did 9/11. They're concerned (as they should be) of the ineptitude of the government before 9/11 and how their failures in intelligence let this happen. That and the fact that no one who stopped Able Danger has been brought up on charges. That's what they're talking about. The Commission overlooked this, and no one was held accountable.The bottom line is we don't know exactly how 19 arabs
You mean radical muslims? I notice every truther tries to do away with the islamic card, as if Islam really doesn't exist or is not really relevant to 9/11.
apologists, plain and simple.who trained on military bases
right, their own bases in Afghanistan.lived with an FBI informant
okay.and were being watched for nearly 2 years managed to pull this off,
exactly, but thanks to the help of scum sucking liberal defense department lawyers, the Able Danger team wasn't allowed to act on their suspicions.However, if it makes you more comfortable to blame this guy, so be it:
CIA Asset Tim Osman, aka Osama bin Laden
I don't blame him. He's doing what he does best. I blame the overabundant tolerance forced on this country that has allowed these people in.
The military bases were in America, not Afghanistan. US Military bases were also listed as the hijackers' permanent addresses on their express VISA applications.
I am not a supporter of Loose Change, and I haven't made any comments that would lead one to assume that.
Pakistani ISI, Mahmoud Ahmed, Sibel Edmonds, Drugs, and more.
But hey, a conspiracy of this magnitude would require thousands of people right, unless they are evil genius radical islamists, then it only takes about 25.
Makes sense to me.
Merlockyle wrote:While I told myself I would try to avoid this fight, I do have a bit of evidence to point out. It's not very scientific, but...hasn't bin Laden bragged in his videos about how he did cause 9/11?
He could be lying, but...well, just saying.
He denied it for weeks after 9/11, but American Press didn't play his messages due to them possibly containing "Secret Messages to his followers".
Then luckily a video was found in Afghanistan with Bin Laden "confessing", however it isn't enough for the FBI, who admits they have no hard evidence connecting Bin Laden to 9/11.
http://www.washingtonfreepress.org/82/n ... ence.shtml
Dont ever leave me Jesus I couldnt stand to see you go
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- Joined: Thu Dec 08, 2005 8:10 am
Can't remember the last time I laughed that hard. The 9/11 stuff was pretty good - especially the way they portrayed the government - but it was Mr Mackey's urinal deuce that did it for me. Honestly, it has been a long while since South Park put a fart joke of that magnitude in one of their epidodes. Good times, good times. After all, isn't that how South Park started - timeless toilet humor combined with some irrevrent, off-the-wall jokes. Its nice to see them taking the show back to its roots every now and them.
And the f*cking Hardy Boys.... LOL! How f*cking random was that?! Great stuff here. One of the best episodes ever! Only one thing left to do.... wait and see if it stands the test of time. Will Mr. Mackey's reaction to the urinal deuce still be as funny a couple years from now after I've watched it 7 times? My guess is yes. The funny thing about that is I can actually remember people who did that back in (high/junior high/grade) school. And Mackey's reaction is exactly spot-on the way you know those school councilors would have reacted!
Great stuff Matt & Trey! One of the greatest parts about a South Park episode is when they remind you about one of those little, funny things from childhood that you have forgotten about. The most recent episode prior to 1009 I can remember that did that was in episode 914: Bloody Mary... Cartman's doing his "sweet bung-sao moves" were something I recall from childhood martial art classes.
"I'm a little better than everyone else."
Too soon?
P.S. Not getting into the 9/11 sh*t, never thought it was Stan, suspected Garrison for some reason.
Especially the Mr. Mackey thing got old really soon.
The only thing that made me laugh was Cartman blaming Kyle for it, the rest of the show was pretty lame.
The Hardly boys weren't funny at all.
Looking forward for ep 10 now. Cartman with authoritah is always funny.
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- Joined: Tue Sep 05, 2006 9:50 pm
Binsento wrote:This episode kinda sucked donkeyballs in my opinion.
Especially the Mr. Mackey thing got old really soon.
The only thing that made me laugh was Cartman blaming Kyle for it, the rest of the show was pretty lame.
The Hardly boys weren't funny at all.
Looking forward for ep 10 now. Cartman with authoritah is always funny.
I thought the Hardly boys thing was funny.
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- Joined: Tue Dec 06, 2005 1:00 am
aoahuj wrote:news reports of large pools of molten 3000+ degrees steel existing underneath ground 0 four weeks after the collapses which could not have existed if bombs weren't used.
I could debunk your whole idiotic post, but that would result in pages and pages of information. So I'll just post this:
Conspiracy sites like to bring up molten metal found 6 weeks after the buildings fell to suggest a bomb must have created the effect. The explanation doesn't go into the amount of explosive material needed because it would be an absurd amount. There is another explanation which is more plausible.
Oxidation of iron by air is not the only EXOTHERMIC reaction of iron (= structural steel which is about 98 % Fe, 1 % Mn, 0.2 % C, 0.2 % Si.....). There is at least one additional reaction of iron with the capability of keeping the rubble pile hot and cooking!
The reaction between IRON AND STEAM is also very EXOTHERMIC and fast at temperatures above 400 deg C. This reaction produces Fe3O4 AND HYDROGEN. It is the classic example of a REVERSIBLE REACTION studied in Chemistry labs at high school. But believe it or not, back at the turn of the century, the reaction of iron and steam was used as an industrial process for the manufacture of hydrogen.
I think iron and steam could have reacted in this way (at least for a while) and generated a lot of heat. What is more, the hydrogen released would have been converted back to water by reaction with oxygen, thereby generating even more heat. In this case spraying water on the rubble pile was like adding fuel to a fire!
Now add in gypsum reactions with H2 and CO and we have a great source of SO2 and/or H2S to sulfide the steel!
Perhaps the endless spraying of water on the rubble pile was not such a good idea!
In the usual lab experiment on the reversible reaction of iron and "steam", nitrogen (or some inert gas) is bubbled through water to create a gas stream saturated with water vapor at room temperature. This gas is then allowed to flow into a glass tube about 1 meter long containing iron in an inert boat at its center. This assembly is heated in a tube furnace to some desired temperature, say 500 deg C. The hydrogen/ nitrogen gas mixture is collected at the outlet of the tube furnace.
In the industrial process the feed gas might also be "water gas" which is a mixture of CO and water vapor. The outlet gas contains mostly H2 and CO2.
I am sure there was plenty of water vapor AND oxygen in the void spaces in the rubble pile. This is the "steam" I am referring to.
Please remember that the recovered pieces of structural steel were heavily OXIDIZED as well as sulfided. The most important oxidizing agents available in the rubble pile were obviously O2 and H2O.
The rubble pile was not only inhomogeneous with regard to its composition, it was inhomogeneous with regard to its temperature. This was due to localized chemical reactions. Such reactions were capable of generating high temperatures in these localized hot spots.
The demolitionists much beloved thermite is a good example, BUT NOT THE ONLY EXAMPLE. AND THERE IS ABSOLUTELY NO PROOF WHATSOEVER THAT THERMITE, THERMATE, SOL-GEL NANO-THERMITE WAS EVER PRESENT AT THE WTC SITE!!!!!!
It is irrelevant whether or not the steam was wet or dry, that is a chemical engineering notion only of interest in a closed and controlled system, usually under high-pressure, such as a steam generator in a power station.
Water vapor was present in the rubble pile and water vapor reacts with iron releasing HYDROGEN.
I could post way more information than this, but why bother. Every single 9/11 conspiracy theory has been debunked time and time again by people using a little common sense and research. Yet the conspiracy whackjobs continue to post the same garbage over and over again. Why don't you do a little research next time?
However, if it makes you more comfortable to blame this guy, so be it:
CIA Asset Tim Osman, aka Osama bin Laden
It looks like someone took some random photo of some random douche in a suit and photoshopped Bin Laden's ugly f*ckin face onto it.
The even creepier thing is that it kind of looks like an emaciated OJ Simpson!!!
Maybe it's a combination of Barak Obama,OJ and Bin-boy!!
True sh1t
But then there was that time I did let a girl notice me pitching a tent in that class (shush you - I was still a regular student at the time.)
I love you guys . . . (aw, screw you guys.)
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I have realized this behaviour recently. Before that each time the update manager poped up to tell me there are updates and I tell it to install them it will ask me for a password. But since recently it does not do that anymore. When I click install it just downloads them and installs them.
Is this a bug or intended behaviour? I use Oneiric with latest updates if that helps


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women's scarf
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Federal report on volunteering and civic life holds good news about Maine
December 12th, 2012
AUGUSTA, ME - The economy and gas prices may have been a challenge but Maine citizens remained committed volunteers according to the annual update, Volunteering and Civic Life in America, released Wednesday. Nearly 350,000 people in Maine contributed $1 billion in time and talent to local activities ranging from collecting and distributing food (26.7 percent of volunteers) to offering pro bono professional and management services to local programs (21.5 percent of volunteers). The rate of volunteering earned Maine a rank of 12th among all states and the District of Columbia - that is a move up of four places from the 2011 report.
There were several pieces of good news for Maine in the report:
- The rate of volunteering among teenagers (44 percent) places Maine number one in the ranking of states. Like exercise and many other habits, volunteering and engagement in community or civic life are habits that, if formed early, last a lifetime. Equally important is the fact involvement in community life as a service volunteer rather than service recipient supports positive youth development.
- Maine's strong showing with regard to volunteering by college students (37 percent of students, sixth highest in the nation) is followed by a strong rate of volunteering among young adults just beyond college age. The rate of volunteering among young adults (34 percent) earned Maine a rank of number two in the nation.
- For the first time, the report looked at the rate of volunteering by parents and confirmed that Maine parents volunteer at a significantly higher rate (44 percent) than any other group except teenagers. This placed Maine sixth nationally and number one in New England.
- Volunteer retention - the ability of a volunteer program to keep someone recruited until they've completed the assignment - finally hit 70 percent after many years of showing 32 percent or more of volunteers leaving programs early. The Maine Commission for Community Service and its volunteer center partners have worked hard in this area, providing leaders of volunteer programs with the management skills to support volunteers' success.
"Maine people take pride in their reputation of being involved in community life," said Drew Matlins, chair of the Maine Commission for Community Service. "At the same time, this report gives us valuable insight into our strengths and vulnerabilities as the population of our state ages. A billion dollars of pro bono work is an asset we need to ensure grows in size and impact. It takes the same cultivation as any local cash asset."
Governor Paul R. LePage praised the report's findings: "The evidence is in and it shows what we have always known - that Maine is a state of neighbors helping neighbors. No one entity or group or person can do this. I'm especially pleased to see that Maine's teenagers and young people are so committed to contributing in their communities."
On a nationwide level, the report shows the volunteer rate reaching its highest level since 2006. More than 64 million Americans - or roughly one in four adults - volunteered approximately 8 billion hours, valued at $171 billion. In addition, two out of three citizens nationally (65 percent or almost 144 million citizens) engaged in informal volunteering by doing favors for and helping out their neighbors, an increase of nearly 10 percentage points from last year.
"Volunteering and civic engagement are the cornerstone of a strong nation," said Wendy Spencer, chief executive officer of the Corporation for National and Community Service, the agency that administers AmeriCorps and Senior Corps and leads the federal effort on volunteering. "We have a prime example of the importance of people working together in the Northeast, where volunteers have really stepped up to support recovery and relief efforts from Hurricane Sandy. People working together and talking to each other help solve problems and make their communities better places to live and work."
The annual volunteering report has become a useful tool for elected officials, civic leaders, and nonprofit executives who recognize the not only the economic impact of an engaged community but also the relationship between citizen involvement in problem-solving and community resiliency in hard times. These officials and leaders use the report as a tool to develop strategies to mobilize more Americans in service to address local needs and problems.
The report is part of the most comprehensive study of volunteering and civic engagement across the country. The data is gathered annually through the Current Population Survey conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau for the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Selected supplements collect data on the volunteering and civic activities of Americans age 16 and older for volunteering and 18 and older for the civic supplement. Volunteers are considered individuals who performed unpaid volunteer activities through or for an organization.
The Corporation issues the report as part of its efforts to expand the reach and impact of America's volunteers, in partnership with the National Council on Citizenship, the U.S. Census Bureau, and the Bureau for Labor Statistics. The report includes information for all 50 states, Washington, D.C., more than 50 major metropolitan areas, and more than 140 other cities including Bangor and Portland.
For an overview of Maine's volunteering and civic health data, visit the ranking section of VolunteeringInAmerica.gov.
The Maine Commission for Community Service builds capacity and sustainability in Maine's volunteer and service communities by funding programs, developing managers of volunteers and service learning practitioners, raising awareness of sector issues, and promoting service as a strategy to resolve local problems.
Maryalice Crofton, Executive Director


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1, 2020
Philosophically, anything can be money, but coins and paper notes are the most generally accepted forms. In most cases, each country in the world has its own money, but in many cases several countries use the same money (such as the Euro). A country's government designs and manufactures that country's money.
3, 2020
Some stocks have seen gravity-defying increases. Tesla made just 365,000 cars last year, but at $85bn its market value is now more than Ford and General Motors combined – and they sell about 14 million cars a year.
4, 2020
"Savings of £250-£300 are not uncommon even switching to large, reputable suppliers like E.ON's cheapest deal in the market right now. This comes with 100% renewable electricity and a fixed price for 12 months," he says.
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Microsoft made the "Consumer Preview" (beta) of the next version of their Windows operating system, Windows 8, available on February 29, 2012 in Barcelona. Since then, they also tweeted that they had over one million downloads within the first 24 hours. Needless to say, the interest in the new operating system is very high. It is so high that the casual users are screaming "I love it" and some of the power users are screaming "This is a piece of confusing mess". Here is my take, trying to take a step back and wondering aloud, if there is a method to the madness.
One day later…one million downloads of the consumer preview
— Building Windows 8 (@BuildWindows8) March 1, 2012
One of the biggest changes in Windows 8 is the removal of the Start Menu and the replacement of the same with the Start Screen. Not only is the medium different – the Start Menu is exactly that, a menu, whereas the Start Screen is a screenful of brightly colored tiles with animations showing photos, notifications, etc. – but also, Microsoft has made it difficult/impossible to revert to "classic" style. Microsoft has made it clear, there is no going back, and this is the way to the future. This is the cutoff from the past and Microsoft's entry into the PC-Plus era. "Touch first", "fast and fluid" and of course, "no compromise". The latter has been the topic of a lot of controversy, as you will see later in this article.


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LG Incite CT810
Info Photos News Forum 22 Reviews
Phone Scoop Review
Dec 30, 2008 by Eric M. Zeman
LG offers up a Windows Mobile smartphone for AT&T. Hopefully the Incite is not a true insight into the future of LG's smartphones, because this one has some serious flaws. read review ›
User Reviews
Average Ratings
interface to small
I have had many phones, including several smart phones. I purchased this phone after doing research on it and felt that the phone was going to be very comparable to the iphone, but different also. I received the phone and returned it the next day, for one main reason. The touch screen looked awesome, bright colors, many options, but the problem is they were to small. I dont care who you are you have to use the stylus that is provided with the phone. If you dont use the stylus you will drive yourself nuts. The biggest design flaw with this phone, well besides the options being to close together and to small, is there is no compartment for the stylus, it has to just dangle from the phone, which looks very odd. The only reason why i gave this a 1 is because it does have alot of great features, just to bad its a touch screen. When i returned the phone to purchase the iphone, the store told me that this phone is already being weeded out, only after a couple months on the market,maybe a rumor, but it makes sense
LG Incite...Useless...
This phone had better battery life then the other touch screen Windows Mobile phones I had and I loved the fact that it was smaller in size. There were way too many cons with this cell phone to even attempt to keep it.
The bluetooth froze up constantly. If you tried to sync it with a headset, or your Garmin... it would freeze up and lock. You couldn't revive it without turning off the BT on whatever device was trying to connect and then using the silly stylis, reset it. The stylis would hang off the side of the phone, which was just a bigger pain! The keyboard was too large and like others said, you cant see what your typing. I had to keep hiding the keyboard to see what I was typing and then bring it back up again.
Lastly, the speaker phone on this model is horrible, you cant hear a thing! Stay away from this phone!!
AD reviews continues below...
Great phone
my first touch screen phone. i think its awesome. and i just got it last friday. so only had it about 4 days. the touch screeen is VERY responsive. the portrait and landscape modes are the bombizzle. wifi is amazing, although i have 3G for one month, so im taking advantage of that, CON: BATTERY LIFE. i first had one on friday, it died after 2 hours. like wow. then there was a defect in it...so i got a new one yesterday and battery is pretty good so far!! only con. also keyboard on landscape takes up a lot of space but its okay since im not a bery big texter. but you can press the down arrow in the bottom right corner and gives you some more typing space. adding ringtones is a breeze, you just need a memory card. i use the stylus only because i hate getting fingerprints all over it :[ love the phone, great quality, wifi is a must after your one month of 3G! I LOVE IT
Best smartphone i have had!
I first want to say, from reading the other reviews that I get the feeling most of the users on this phone havent had a smartphone before. Windows mobile does lag sometimes, remember to close programs when your done.
-Speed, very fast compared to previous smartphones,(att tilt, att 8125, blackjack 2)
-screen: very clear image, bright enough
-sound: loud and clear
-Connectivity: Wifi AND GPS built in!
-3.5mm headphone jack
-User Interface: LG has a custom UI built in to windows mobile that is great.
-Mirror screen makes it hard to read in direct sunlight.
-No slot for stylus, but stylus not needed.
-Takes time to get used to a full touch screen if your not used to it.
Overall this is a great phone! gps works with garmin mobile so no need for a data plan, wifi works great also.
I own this phone and let me say that this is the worst phone I have ever owned!!! For the first week, I did love it---but then i learned better!! The touchscreen is unresponsive,the accelerometer is EXTREMELY SLOW,the stylus design is terrible,and Windows Mobile was a poor fit for this phone. I did give the phone some credit(the 0.5) for a good IDEA---just poor execution. I now have the FUZE and that is the BEST phone I have ever had!!!!
Good phone but a few flaws
pretty responsive
easy to navigate (few miss keyings)
every thing you need to work on the go
good size
light weight
no built in stylist-Hellooo, who thought up the idea of dangling the stylist on the side of the phone
the key lock button only locks the volume buttons on the side as long as no other buttons get pushed causing the screen to light up. IE if you lock the phone and then put it you pocket or a case on your hip and one of the buttons gets bumped making the screen light up, while you can't do anything on the screen without unlocking the volume buttons can now be pushed causing the phone to go into silent mode. Not just vibrate-complete silence. I found this happened more often with the stylist attached to the side. So again hellooo, who thought of allowing the volume to be able to unlock so easily.
The volume issue is my biggest problem but since I didn't really like any of the other options better (style mostly) I've chosen to keep it and just check my phone regularly. I think overall it is a good phone especially for the price. 100 after rebate.
3 day review
I have had the incite for 3 days now and here is my honest review.
Reception is as good as i have found from an ATT phone in my area which does have 3g. Screen is crisp and clear. The touch feedback is decent but not up to par with the HTC phones or the iphone. I am a mobile power user so exchange email and carry docs with me is important.
The sounds quality is loud and clear and the size of the phone in your hand is great. The chrome coated plastic makes it feel cheap but could be why it feels so light. I wish it had the metal casing that the shine has.
Input on the phone is good and bad. typing emails and texts in landscape mode is great, good spacing on the keyboard and very few mistakes, almost identical to the key board on the samsung touch screen phones. To the moron who left the prior review turn the phone sideways and you get a landscape view and keyboard, this isn't an iphone that make you type emails and texts vertically.The stylus being detached and being on a dongle is strange and i found that with the stylus you have to push harder then with your finger.
the lg menus are great with your fingers but the native winmo is small and hard not to use the stylus. Contacts are small but i have not had an issues with my fat fingers yet hitting the wrong contact. the dial pad is very nice as with the voice feedback when you press a number.
I wish that the lg shortcut bar at he bottom would show new emails and voicemail, but it only shows new text, maybe a way to customize that i haven't figure out yet.
Battery life has been great fully charged friday. Left the office I have made several calls, texted and used activesync for my exchange email and i still have half the battery left 48 hours later. Try that on any htc or iphone and y ou will be on your second charge.
Wish list... better menu customization like on HTC devices.... larger screen, it has the room to go up to 3.2 or 3.5 like the omni, slightly better touch response.
LG Incite - Designed for a chick!
With the AT&T Tilt being discontinued I decided to venture out and try another phone. As a qualifier to my review I have used a Tilt since April. I own AT&T stores and can carry any phone any time I want and I carried a Tilt.
First off, why did they make the stylus with no on-board storage. It is asking to be lost unless you want to carry it attached to your phone looking like your lipstick or eyeliner. I suppose if you carry a man-purse you will like this design but I really hate it.
The auto adjusting display does have some lag issues but not more than I have seen with a well used iPhone. The battery is much better than the Tilt (so far I have to charge the phone very other day, my tilt was every day). Screen is very nice and watching movies was better than the Tilt. The touch screen did not work very well when trying to flip through my contacts or scroll down into emails. The jog dial on the side does help with that. I do not like the fact that there is no external "ok" button to close programs and windows. You can hit end for many windows but for instance in email or text it completely takes you back to the main screen. Ok is hard to push with just your finger
Dedicated HF jack is nice.
Virtual keypaid is pretty good (better than the iPhone and LG VU in my opinion) but it leave little to no room to see what you are typing.
Overall is it ok but I would suggest others for the price range (Eternity, Bold or Fuze).
Why Was This Phone Created in the First Place?
This phone is the most disappointed thing ever! I don't understand why this phone was created in the first place. If you have this phone or have had it, then you understand what I mean. If you are thinking of buying one, reconsider because it is the worst thing that AT&T could ever make. I have been trying to get messages from my friends, and yet my connection has been lost, so that means that I can't check my messages at all. It's very disappointing. I hope you all understand my point of view and listen, because you do not want this phone.
First Impression
I checked out this phone in the AT&T store and played with it for a little while. It has a lot of nice features but I decided not to buy the phone because the text on the screen was so very small. To enter names into the address book, etc. was very hard without using the stylus....almost impossible. When typing a text message, you can choose to use a very tiny keypad or you can enlarge it. If you use the small version you must use the stylus because each key is so tiny. If you enlarge the keypad then you don't have much room to see what you are typing. And the stylus cannot be stored inside the phone but must be carried in your pocket or on a keychain perhaps so I knew I would lose it within a day or two or not have it with me when I really needed it. I found manuvering between menu screen was a little confusing as well. So for these two primary reasons I decided not to purchase the phone.


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"My kids and I have been training here for 2 years and it's terrific. Its a traditional karate style, great for children to learn discipline and appreciation for hard work. Not a "McDojo". Does not suffer from "belt inflation", you need to earn your belt. Sensei Gavin and Sensei Linda are great with the kids". ~ Keith A. Cresskill, NJ
"Great instructors with great Dojo spirit – they made the other karate school looks bad. Highly recommended for all – adult included". ~ L L. New York, NY
Shukokai is derived from one of the original styles of Karate, Shito Ryu, with roots that date back over three hundred years to Okinawa. Using Shito Ryu as a foundation for his style, Sensei Kimura spent the last forty years of his life developing a technique that was second to none, and he perfected the ability to attack with devastating power and speed. Students of Kimura Shukokai learn how to use the biggest muscles of the body to generate this power and speed, and when the technique is mastered, they will be able to overcome their opponents with what Sensei Kimura referred to as "One hit, one kill."
Those who were privileged to know and train with Shihan Shigeru Kimura knew they were in the presence of a great man.
Through his spirit, intelligence, guidance and ability he galvanized his students to work harder and learn more than they ever thought possible. His leadership helped create a worldwide association that to this day remains a cogent organization dedicated to training in the spirit of a man regarded as both a warrior and a philosopher.


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I would violate you.Warhead wrote:Honest truth... I wouldn't know how and my games wouldn't be as exciting as Shadows as I always play it safe tactically, not very Brikwars. It'd be funnier if I had online ability for my sons Xbox and played Shadow and taped that.
And then we'd play Xcom XD


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In the midst of speculations involving Seattle's Cliff Lee, one major league source has cited the Mariners' interest in Kevin Slowey as a key piece of a potential deal. As the Mariners compile their due diligence, hoping to leverage the trade deadline's best trading chip for the highest possible return, those that are in the "Acquire Cliff Lee Now" camp should hope that Seattle's scouts were not paying attention to the Twins starter the past several weeks: In his last five starts, Slowey has been tagged for 35 hits in 24.2 innings of work leading to 24 runs scored.
While Lee would improve a rotation that is down on its luck at the moment, the long-term sustainability of the organization has to be considered when measuring any trade. Slowey is still young, affordable and has compiled an impressive minor league track record that would suggest this is a hiccup. Then again, with the recent surgically repaired wrist less than a year ago, Slowey may be experiencing difficulties adjusting to what he described in the spring as a new sensation and wondered aloud if he would "ever feel the same like I did before."
The obvious reality is that his stuff just isn't quite there in 2010. While he is still master of the strike zone's domain - throwing strikes regularly and working ahead of hitters - the opposition is raking line drives and deep fly balls all over league. As a point of order, Slowey has always been near the bottom of the league in inducing worm-burners, but this season his groundball rate has sunk to a new low of 27% - the lowest in baseball by a wide margin.
The added elevation off of opponents' bats correlates with the loss of movement in his breaking pitches. Although his fastball remains a very effective pitch in his repertoire, his secondary pitches, the curveball and slider, has not had the same results from prior seasons:
Slowey's Curve/Sliders
Pct Thrown
Essentially, hitters have strayed after fewer out-of-zone pitches and missed less frequently. In short, he's not fooling anybody with the breaking action.
Reviewing his pitch f/x virtualization charts - which are the average path that a pitcher's pitches take from the release point to the catcher's mitt, as shown from a bird's-eye view – reveals that his arsenal is not producing the same movement as it had in the past. Give additional attention to the green diamond, his slider:
As you can derive from those graphs, on average, Slowey's non-fastball offerings are flat and catching far too much of the strike zone. As a result, hitters have been able to cause damage by posting a 1.095 OPS on his curve/slider (versus a .609 league-average OPS on those types of pitches). Losing confidence in a pitch (or pitches) for a control-orient pitcher can have nasty consequences. As Jesse Lund at TwinkieTown.com pointed out, Slowey basically eliminated throwing any semblance of a breaking pitch in his most recent start in Toronto, throwing 87 fastballs out of 98 pitches. This pitch selection led to two home runs and nine hits in 6.1 innings in Canada.
The real question then is if this is a temporary setback or if it is indeed the reprecussions of his wrist surgery that may have long-lasting effects. Basically, would trading Slowey now be a "sell-low" maneuver for the Twins, allowing the Mariners benefit from his continuing production when he fully recovers, or would it be an unloading of a commodity that is slightly damaged and may never live up to expectation? The answer to that is the difference between a bad trade and a good one.


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Tomato Paniyaram
It has been quite some time since we posted any recipe. When I saw this recipe in a local channel, I was motivated to try it out and post it immediately. It is a simple and easy snack to make for the kiddos. Try it out and let us know.
- Dosa Batter (as needed)
- 1 Onion
- 2-3 Tomato
- Red chilie (as needed)
- 1/4 tsp Turmeric powder
- 1/4 tsp Hing
- 1/4 tsp Mustard
- 1/4 tsp Urad dhal
- Handful of chopped coriander
- 1 tsp oil
- Salt to taste
1. Chop the onions and tomato finely.
2. Add oil in a frying pan and once the oil is hot add mustard seeds and uradh dhal.
3. Once in splutters add hing, onion and fry until it turns translucent
4. Add tomato and fry until it turns mushy. Add chilie powder, salt to taste and fry for 2-3 minutes.
5. Take an appe pan and spray with Pam or add 1/4 tsp of oil.
6. Take a bowl and mix the tomato mixture and dosa batter. The final batter should be a little thick. So add the dosa batter as needed.
7. Once the appe pan is hot pour the batter in each groove. Reduce the heat and let it cook for a minute. Turn it with a spoon.
8. Spray oil on the cooked paniyaram and close the appe pan with a lid. Remove the lid after 20 seconds.
9. Check if the paniyaram is done and remove from the pan
Serve this with spicy coconut chutney. For kids you can grate some carrot,peas and add it to the tomato. You can also reduce the red chilie powder.


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Getting back to the story . . . It's tough to keep track of all the new California Pinots that have come on the market in the last three or four years. Hardly ubiquitous these offerings, from the likes of Black Kite, De La Montanya, B. Kosuge, Three Saints, Segue, and Alta Maria, to name just a few, bespeak quality. IMO quality keeps improving across the board and excellent wines under $40 a bottle can be found readily. Without exaggeration, we're in a Pinot lover's dreamworld with bountiful, delicious offerings to be had across the board. Sigh!
As I mentioned in my last post, my neighbor with a real job in the wine industry slipped a bottle of the Alta Maria in my mailbox as a thank you for the emergency Alstatian riesling. I'd say it was a fair swap, all things being equal. The Alta Maria Vineyards website is a bit, well . . . eerie. "Salvation" is the first word to appear, then a statue of Mary, a "Devotee List" in lieu of the mailing list, other religious folderoll. A bit much for me as drinking the Alta Maria wine, while enjoyable, was hardly a religious experience. The winery makes Syrah, Mouvedre and Pinot and links your purchases together, so you have to buy x bottles of one varietal to get y bottles of another, and can't buy single bottles. If this relatively restricted approach to doing business is working then who am I to question success but internet ordering should be seamless and should focus on the buyer's wishes, not the seller's peculiarities and attempts at exclusivity or whatever else they are trying to prove here. At any rate, the gift wine was quite good though it did not really challenge the mystery contestant. Here are my notes:
Alta Maria Vineyards 2005 Pinot Noir, Santa Maria Valley, Bien Nacido Vineyard, Santa Barbara County. The wine checks in at 14.1% alcohol and is comprised of the N Block 115 clone and the Q Block Pommard clone.
Tasting Notes: Purple/violet in the glass, mint and blueberry nose, menthol dark fruits and violets. Nicely balance acidity, lush with some depth, quite rich finish of more dark fruits.
Rating: Very good.
Cheers, Barrld
Thursday, November 15, 2007
Thursday, September 6, 2007
The Mystery Continued--Part III
Just back from vacation, one where tragically I consumed no Pinot. Before I turn to my notes on the next challenger to the mystery Pinot, I received an unusual request from one of my neighbors, who is in the wine business. Seems that she was entertaining a client up the street from me and was buried with personal matters. She asked if she could "borrow" a bottle of a Alsatian wine, I told her my inventory, then carried a bottle of Riesling up to her front door, something that she really appreciated. At any rate, she returned the favor the next day with a bottle of . . . Pinot! Apparently the gift selection is sold out and, well I will put her choice up to the mystery challenge as well--suffice to say that I liked it well enough to jump on the mailing list and buy some Grenache and Syrah, even though the winery's Pinot was sold out.
The next challenger also hails from St. Rita Hills (Sta. is a ridiculous acronym) and is the work of the widow of Mike Bonaccorsi, whose death still remains a bit of a mystery, at least to me. That is how does a guy who is in prime of his life at age 42 (43? the reports list both ages) in good shape just drop dead? Heart attack? Give me a break! Kind of spooky if you asked me. Anyway, Jenne Lee Bonaccorsi has kept the Bonaccorsi Wine Company going strong and its wines continue to get favroable reviews and are very well liked by Laube. I had yet to try any Bonaccorsi b/c it struck me as a bit ghoulish to run out and buy its wines after Mike's death. Anyway, I got over that kneejerk reflex.
The wine in question is the Bonaccorsi 2004 Red Monkey Pinot Noir, Sta. Rita Hills. Checking in at 14.7% alcohol the wine is unfined, unfiltered and made without any "monkey business." I picked up a couple of bottles in my mixed case from the Wine Cask and paid $36 per, with the case discount. I enjoyed the first bottle of this wine I tried and will revisit it again shortly to confirm my notes. No reason not to go back to Bonaccorsi Pinots esp. if I can get them under the $40 price point.
Tasting Notes: Garnet in the glass, nose of plums and cherries. Cherries and blackberries mid-palate, structured and deep, earthy and juicy, with vanilla and birch bark tones. Long finish. Age worthy.
Rating: Excellent.
Cheers, Barrld
The next challenger also hails from St. Rita Hills (Sta. is a ridiculous acronym) and is the work of the widow of Mike Bonaccorsi, whose death still remains a bit of a mystery, at least to me. That is how does a guy who is in prime of his life at age 42 (43? the reports list both ages) in good shape just drop dead? Heart attack? Give me a break! Kind of spooky if you asked me. Anyway, Jenne Lee Bonaccorsi has kept the Bonaccorsi Wine Company going strong and its wines continue to get favroable reviews and are very well liked by Laube. I had yet to try any Bonaccorsi b/c it struck me as a bit ghoulish to run out and buy its wines after Mike's death. Anyway, I got over that kneejerk reflex.
The wine in question is the Bonaccorsi 2004 Red Monkey Pinot Noir, Sta. Rita Hills. Checking in at 14.7% alcohol the wine is unfined, unfiltered and made without any "monkey business." I picked up a couple of bottles in my mixed case from the Wine Cask and paid $36 per, with the case discount. I enjoyed the first bottle of this wine I tried and will revisit it again shortly to confirm my notes. No reason not to go back to Bonaccorsi Pinots esp. if I can get them under the $40 price point.
Tasting Notes: Garnet in the glass, nose of plums and cherries. Cherries and blackberries mid-palate, structured and deep, earthy and juicy, with vanilla and birch bark tones. Long finish. Age worthy.
Rating: Excellent.
Cheers, Barrld
Posted by Barrld at 3:41 PM 2 comments:
Friday, August 17, 2007
Mystery Pinot--Part Two
So I did score a case of the mystery Pinot, tracking it down through the retailer who advised that I could get additional wine (maybe) from the maker and then, the next day, I received a confirm that indeed a case was available with the 10% discount, meaning I spent about $34 for a wine that will easily trump cult Pinots at twice the price. Plus, I ended up owning 2 of the 55 cases, or a considerable percentage of the available juice. I like those numbers!
To fill out the initial partial case of my mystery Pinot from the retailer in question I pulled down 7 other bottles from a couple of Pinot producers that I hadn't previously tried. One was the Demetria Estate 2005 Pinot Noir Jours de Bonheur Gaia Vineyards, Sta. Rita Hills. The Gaia Vineyard used to be known as Ashley's Vineyard, producing fine juice for Brewer-Clifton, Melville, Tantara and many others in the area. Demetria now owns the vineyard and produces its Burgundian varietals from its own grapes. The 2005 Pinot was grown, produced and bottled by Demetria, is unfined and unfiltered and has 14.2% alcohol. I paid about $35 retail for the wine, including the case discount. Demetria is biodynamic and this is the winery's first release. A bit more than 700 cases were made of it.
Tasting Notes: Violet in the glass, cherry nose, lots of very forward fruit. Juicy, expressive of red fruits, jasmine and sage, a carefree Pinot. Expressive and balanced, the wine is easy to drink and thirst quenching, going well with a host of food choices. While not complicated and with little mystique, it is thoroughly enjoyable for its bouquet of flavors and its drinkability.
Rating: Very good.
Cheers, Barrld
Posted by Barrld at 2:08 PM 3 comments:
Monday, August 6, 2007
Pinot Mystery--Part One
Well, I found the best Pinot in memory but I can't tell you about it b/c only 55 cases were made by a guy from another country who is the full time winemaker at a Santa Ynez winery. I'm sure his moonlighting is kosher but don't know what his plans are for next year as I found out that he was pedaling his first vintage of the heretofore unknown wine door to door. I found the wine via an email add from a Santa Barbara area wine retailer of repute (who told me that they tasted it and flipped) and then bought the rest of the store's inventory so there is none of this wine on the market from 2005. Why am I telling you this, if not just to piss you off? More on that question in a bit.
Anyway, to confirm the quality of this particular Pinot from the Sta. Rita Hills appellation, I forced myself to drink 4 other fine Pinots out there, amidst the current sea of very good to excellent California Pinots from 2004 and 2005, to see if the fave held up to the test. Over the course of the next week or so I will give you my notes on the four comparison wines, then maybe I will give you more clues, and some notes on the mysterious blockbuster. I may have a means of getting more of this wine and, if I do, will reveal its identity to you.
Emeritus. Founded by Brice Jones of Sonoma-Cutrer fame, 2005 was the opening vintage of Emeritus. Don Blackburn, the winemaker, has a lot of quality experience with Pinot and knows the various Sonoma appellations. In June I bought a case of one of its two inaugural wines after Laube extolled its virtues. The wine in question is the 2005 Emeritus Pinot Noir William Wesley Vineyards Sonoma Coast, which was produced and bottled by the Emeritus folks. It checks in at 14.3% alcohol and I spent about $34 on it direct from Emeritus, with the case discount from the winery. Laube found it full bodied with firm tannins in need of time. I disagree with much of his notes, and the guzzlers chimed in quite consistently following a second tasting of the Emeritus after lusting over the afore-mentioned mystery wine.
Tasting Notes. Ruby red in the glass, dark cherry and currants on the nose, red fruits and tannins, tightly wound, almost closed and needs time (my only agreement with Laube). Lovely bouquet, earthy, tart blackberry and refined, medium bodied with structural elements that could come together nicely, just not yet. Second tasting was consistent, though the Emeritus suffered in comparison to my blockbuster.
Rating: Very good.
Cheers, Barrld
Posted by Barrld at 3:42 PM 2 comments:
Thursday, May 24, 2007
White Burgundy Value
With the dollar's continual pummeling at the hands of the euro, the pound and other currencies around the world it is much more difficult to find good values from abroad, especially from the old world. Take that up a notch with excellent wines from all over France out of the 2005 vintage and you're looking at $30 a bottle "bargains" from across the pond. Thus, though I regularly get pinged about the reasonable prices of French juice, the tag line generally includes a price north of $30, with most in the $45+ range. D. Sokolin hypes a lot of RP rated wines and I have done a lot of business with that retailer, usually through its fine salesman Daron. Sokolin's prices are generally fair, some times the best (you have to be choosy and use Wine-Searcher relentlessly) but even then it's impossible to find well priced 2005 Bourdeaxs or red Burgundies from anywhere. When a mixed case offering of 2005 white Burgundy from Sokolin crossed my desk a few weeks ago I ran the wines through the wine-searcher grind and found that the prices were very good, all below $25 a bottle. I bought the case and, after waiting for the wine to settle a bit, opened one of the 3 varietals I bought. My picture here shows the 2003 vintage--it was the best one I could copy from the net; I drank the 2005.
Vincent Girardin is apparently the negotiant of the moment in Burgundy and seems to be everywhere. He produces all sorts of wines out of his "Domaine" (this wording appears on wines where he owns the grapes too, but I suspect that all of his wines are produced at the Domaine), which is in Meursault though he sources red and white grapes from all over Burgundy. I've had many of his wines and find them to be very good to excellent with a high quality to value ratio, though his prices have also crept northward of late. I hadn't really paid attention that I was buying mostly Girardin wines when I ordered the case but that's what I ended up with and am not complaining now. The moral of the story is to pay attention to the "good value" emails as you might find one that's true.
Tasting Notes: The wine is Vincent Girardin 2005 Rully 1er Cru Les Cloux which checks in at 13.5% alcohol. I paid $24 a bottle from Sokolin. The wine is straw in the glass, opening with delicate notes of lemon, plumeria and vanilla, very fragrant. Citrus/lime notes take over mid-palate offering a refreshing juicy wine, with a creamy finish that includes gooseberries and spice. Balanced and nicely acidic, this is both an easy drinking every day wine and good party wine with seafood grilling. I'd buy this again.
Rating: Very Good.
Cheers, Barrld
Posted by Barrld at 3:00 PM 2 comments:
Wednesday, May 16, 2007
Pinot Heaven
I've written about Red Car Wine Company previously, with its art deco labels and back of the bottle chapters telling noir tales of affairs of the heart. Though most of Red Car's wines are Syrahs, both single vineyards and blends, it also produces a couple of Pinots, mostly under the Amour Fou sub-label. With an address in the heart of Los Angeles, all grapes are sourced and produced elsewhere, at what used to be more than one co-operative. The Company now has a winery in Santa Maria, though I wonder about trucking Pinot grapes there from the Russian River, given the delicacy and think skins of these grapes. As you can see below, it works somehow.
At any rate, the Red Car Syrahs are generally huge and jammy, but very well made and stylistic. I've found the couple of Amour Fou Pinots that I've tried from the 2002 vintage to be very good but missing a bit of complexity and length. I opened a 2003 Amour Fou the other day and, well, it's the real deal. I picked up this wine direct from Red Car for about $40 a bottle when it was released 2 or so years ago.
Tasting Notes: The wine is Red Car 2003 Russian River Valley Pinot Noir Amour Fou Chapter Two, which checks in at 14.9% alcohol. The grapes were sourced 70% from Keefer Ranch and 30% from Martinelli and a good dose of new French oak was used along the way. The wine is a lovely garnet in the glass and virtually explodes with alluring fragrances of camellias and blackberry pie, with a dash of white pepper on the nose. Chocolate, dark fruit and earth control the mid-palate, framing a dynamic set of flavors, complex and juicy. Full bodied but not heavy, with good balance and acidity. Long, long finish with tiers of flavors, mixing robust raspberry, smoke, fennel, blueberry compote, wow! This is the complete package, a classy, delicious wine of many dimensions. Bravo!
Rating: Superb!! (only my second one!)
Cheers, Barrld
Posted by Barrld at 10:03 AM 2 comments:
Tuesday, May 8, 2007
Over Rated?
While I can't rank Zinfadel in my top 5 wine varietals, I do occasionally enjoy that deep purple juice both straight up and in well crafted blends. At the same time, the sheer full throttle vibrancy of some Zins, coupled with the grape juicy sweet style I find in less expensive Zins makes me wary, esp. at potlucks. My preference for stylized, refined wine with multiple tiers of flavor tends to exclude most Zins, which lean towards a huge fruit/alcohol punch in the mouth. Honestly, though I base my prejudices on my early wine drinking days in the late 90s and I know that Zins have evolved away from one dimensionality. All the more reason for me to pick up a few bottles of The Prisoner from 2003.
A guy I know has a considerable gray market deal going in his house in Brentwood. Where he gets the wines, I don't know, but his prices are good, his selection excellent and no sales tax. I've bought a couple of cases of fine first growths from him (1994s, very well priced) and some of this and that. Anyway, I was buying some 2002 white Burgundy and my friend J said, ever try this? He plucked a bottle of The Prisoner from his cluttered shelves and handed it over. Good juice, he said, Laube loved it. Being a sucker, I bought 3 bottles for $22 each, did I say no sales tax? Anyway, I drank one soon thereafter (no memories one way or another) and lost the other two somewhere in the cellar. I found the bottle consumed for this review when I was rearranging my wines. I took a peek at the WS ratings and saw that Laube gave the wine a 92 in 2005 so I looked forward to tipping back a couple of glasses. Unfortunately, that proved to be a let down.
Tasting Notes: The wine is Orin Swift The Prisoner, Red Table Wine 2003. Swift is obviously sourcing juice from various AVAs as the wine notes that it was "Bottled in Napa" but has no AVA listed. The wine checks in at 15.2% alcohol and is a blend of Zin, Cabernet Sauvignon, Charbono (from where? I thought that all of the Charbono vines in CA were replaced long ago) and Petit Sirah. Not sure of the percentages as there is no info on the website but it's clear that Zin controls the blend. Dark purple in the glass, alcoholic nose with berries and clay, black fruit and maple syrup mid-palate, with a decent though tannic, viscous blackberry finish. Frankly I expected more--better fruit expressions and integration, softer tannins, fuller balance. Honestly, I couldn't have a second glass and had to drink the bottle over a couple of days, which took the starch out of the tannins but dulled down the fruit too. Maybe I will give the last bottle away.
Rating: Good.
Cheers, Barrld
Posted by Barrld at 3:23 PM 5 comments:
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